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Protesters carry a mock coffin during a march in Hong Kong on Sunday June 1, 2008 to mark the 19th anniversary of China 's bloody crackdown on pro-democracy protesters centered at Beijing 's Tiananmen Square in June 1989. Protesters held banners that honored both the victims of the earthquake and of the military crackdown in 1989, which killed at least hundreds. The protests were ruled a "counterrevolutionary riot." (AP Photo/Melanie Ko) | ||
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BEIJING (AP) — Dozens of people remain imprisoned for taking part in the 1989 pro-democracy protests centered in Tiananmen Square, though releasing them would improve China's image ahead of the Beijing Olympics this summer, a human rights group said.
New York-based Human Rights Watch said about 130 prisoners are still being held for their role in the demonstrations that were crushed in a brutal military crackdown. The square in the heart of the Chinese capital is expected to feature prominently in media coverage of the Olympics, although authorities worry about the possibility of fresh protests marring the event.
"The Chinese government should show the global Olympic audience it's serious about human rights by releasing the Tiananmen detainees," Sophie Richardson, the group's Asia advocacy director, said in a statement released Monday in New York.
This year is the 19th anniversary of the June 3-4 military assault on the protesters in which hundreds, possibly thousands, were killed. China's Communist leaders portray the protest as an anti-government riot and have never offered a full accounting of the crackdown.
China pledged to improve its human rights situation in its bid to host the 2008 Olympics. But one Tiananmen activist, whose son was killed as he hid from soldiers enforcing martial law, scoffed when asked whether the August games had spurred the government to change its attitude.
"I don't have this kind of illusion," said Ding Zilin, pointing out that some of her activist friends were placed under house arrest this year. She is the co-founder of the Tiananmen Mothers, a group representing families of those who died, and has campaigned to get the government to acknowledge those killed in the crackdown and compensate their families.
No official figure is available of the number of people who remain jailed in connection with the protests. Liu Xiaobo, an Internet writer who was jailed for nearly five years after the protests, said he knows of up to eight people serving life sentences in Beijing's No. 2 Prison on charges of organizing people to oppose the soldiers or taking part in acts such as the burning of police or army vehicles during the crackdown.
China Human Rights Defenders, a network of activists and rights monitoring groups, released a list Tuesday with the names of eight Beijing residents who remain imprisoned in connection with the Tiananmen protests. A handful of activists had also been placed under house arrest or monitored by police in the days leading up to the anniversary, the group said.
Human Rights Watch said its numbers represented its best estimate based on government information and details pieced together from other sources like family members and other activist groups.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang declined to comment on prisoner numbers or any possible future releases, calling that a matter for other government departments.
He repeated China's position that the government has been improving human rights by reforming the legal system and raising living standards.
"We will unswervingly stand on the road of socialism with Chinese characteristics and the promotion of human rights of China," Qin said at a regularly scheduled news conference.
Security is traditionally ratcheted up around the anniversary, but Liu said this year has been relatively relaxed, with police only appearing outside his Beijing apartment on June 1, several days later than usual.
Liu is still unable to publish inside China, his phone is bugged and he is frequently called in by police for discussions on topics ranging from unrest in Tibet to the government response to last month's earthquake in the southwestern province of Sichuan.
Despite a public taboo on discussing the protests and crackdown, Liu said interest in the events appears greater now than on the 10th anniversary in 1999.
Source: http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5hcJyjhBBLXNXdqj7OC-4vOBNogjwD912P8680